squirt Kayak conversion to c1

nam · Post by **nam** » Sat May 21, 2011 8:13 am

is this a good idea? Just wondering. Never been in a squirt boat before. I Paddled xxx.

Thanks in advance for the input

TheKrikkitWars · Post by **TheKrikkitWars** » Sat May 21, 2011 9:16 am

Unless you're very confident working with fiberglass; No.

There are several C-Squirt boats available (I happen to own one...) and they're great; but to give you an idea of what it takes to convert a squirt kayak to a squirt canoe

This Boat (The Meltdown as made by Valley Canoe Products/Downtime Kayaks)

Was made by adding 4inches of width to this boat:

and then removing volume from the leg and foot bumps, whilst adding volume near the cockpit to create "knee tubes" and then finally adding a new cockpit rim.

That boat is absolutely wicked fun to paddle; but I don't think it's within the relm of the everyday paddler to go making their own c-squirt boats.

Post by **sbroam** » Sat May 21, 2011 9:55 am

If by "conversion", you mean putting a pedestal in a K-1 squirt - I really don't think that's going to be any fun. It's just going to be too narrow to have any stability. If you keep your eyes open, you can find C-1 squirts come up for sale occasionally. Or, a slightly less ambitious course of action than the one Josh described, wouldbe to take a C-1 slalom design and take some volume out (cut, reseam).

oopsiflipped · Post by **oopsiflipped** » Sat May 21, 2011 11:35 am

yeah, pretty much the hard way to go. if the only squirt boat you can find is a kayak, there is a much easier solution, but i won't say it. :wink:

i will say you don't even need to get a huge double bladed paddle, hand paddles would work just fine.....

Post by **PAC** » Sat May 21, 2011 12:21 pm

Have to agree with above... not worth the effort to just modify the boat... unless... always an exception. ... its a Mastro. Which as a history of being a okay change over. I believe there is one out in the Settle area that is currently a Cquirt.
http://www.customkayak.com/html/maestro.html
You still have to have the ability to work with glass (cockpit modifications) and then maybe chop / cut to size out.

Couple suggestions:
1. Get Jim Synder's Squirt boating and Beyond book and
2. Look up Martin (The Great Gonzo) to try out his "CeamWeaver" cause your gon'a love it!
3. Look for a low volume slalmom boat and modify (Get Charlie Walbride's http://www.amazon.com/Boatbuilders-Manu ... 0897320220 and get ready to spend some money and time figuring "it" out!

Let us know how it all works out.

Smurfwarrior · Post by **Smurfwarrior** » Sun May 22, 2011 2:04 am

TONS of wisdom shared on this thread of mine by people answering my same questions... this also shows my progress in cutting down a c squirt.. and its for sale (and located in UT)

http://cboats.net/cforum/viewtopic.php? ... rt&start=0

kanusport · Post by **kanusport** » Mon May 23, 2011 12:46 am

Anybody have any thoughts on a Sin as a conversion? thanks,

Smurfwarrior · Post by **Smurfwarrior** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:01 am

I'll say this, with the limited knowledge that I have on the subject... I have an Angst K Squirt and I tried to fit in that as a C-1... no go. I tried a friends huge bigfoot.. no go.. just can't get the knees wide at all... even the trim was a nightmare of an issue and made me completely give up on the idea after a few minutes. I paddle the Angst as a kayak... no shame in that.

Sir Adam · Post by **Sir Adam** » Mon May 23, 2011 1:17 pm

The Sin is one of the kayak squirts that I think might work. it would be more of a cruising squirt I think, but that depends on your weight.

You'll need to redo the cockpit rim, both to spread your knees more and move it forward so you trim out properly. Getting the balance correct will be trial and error and take a bit of time.

COULD be a fun project, but you'll likely end up spending more than you would on a used Acrobat, and wind up with similar, or worse, performance (depending on your weight, and the cut of the Sin).

If you are looking for a mystery machine (C1) and are less than 180 or 200 lbs, look elsewhere....

Just my .02.